SQUATTERS- SQUIRREL. 



367 



300 miles hence the whole square contains 90,000 

 square miles. To Square a figure (e. g. a polygon) 

 is to reduce the surface to a square by mathemati- 

 cal means. It has often been attempted to square 

 the circle, but as yet without success. (See Circle.) 

 To obtain the square of a number, the number is 

 multiplied by itself (see Power) ; and to extract 

 the square root of a number is to find that magni- 

 tude which, multiplied by itself, gives the magni- 

 tude from which we have to extract the root. 

 See Root. 



Square, in tactics, is the figure formed by infan- 

 try to resist most effectually an attack of cavalry 

 in the open field. It can be formed in different 

 ways; and it was once customary to spend much 

 time in drilling troops to execute all the varieties 

 of squares and other figures having the same object; 

 but experience has shown that the so called solid 

 square is the best, on account of its moveability and 

 simplicity, as well as its power of resistance, though 

 it is, perhaps more exposed to the effects of artil- 

 lery. In some armies (e. g. the Prussian), all other 

 squares are abandoned. A column, being of a 

 square shape, can be thrown into a solid square im- 

 mediately by making the men face to each of the 

 four sides. (See the article Column.) If a solid 

 square is broken, the parts again form squares by 

 facing to the four sides. 



Magic Squares are square tables with divisions, 

 like a chess board, filled with numbers in the na- 

 tural series, or any other arithmetical progression, 

 in such a way that the numbers in the horizontal 

 and vertical lines, and sometimes, also, those in the 

 diagonal lines, yield equal sums if added together ; 

 for instance, 



Euler, Kircher, Franklin and others have made in- 

 vestigations respecting this subject. See, among 

 other works, Mollweide's Commentat. de Quadratis 

 Mac/ids (Leipsic, 1816). In India, in which coun- 

 try these tables were probably invented, they are 

 used as talismans. 



Square-rigged vessels are contradistinguished to 

 all whose sails are extended by stays, lateen, or 

 lug-sail yards, or by gaffs and booms, the usual sit- 

 uation of which is nearly in a plane with the keel. 



Square-sail is any sail extended to a yard sus- 

 pended by the middle, and hanging parallel to the 

 horizon, as distinguished from sails extended ob- 

 liquely. 



SQUATTERS. See Public Lands. 

 . SQUILL. The officinal squill (scilla maritima of 

 Linnaeus) is now referred to the genus ornithogalum. 

 This plant is allied to the onion, which it some- 

 what resembles : there are six stamens and a single 

 style ; the calyx is wanting, and the corolla is deep- 

 ly divided into six segments: the root is a bulb 

 aimost as large as a man's head, and similar in form 

 and structure to that of the onion; the stem up- 

 right, cylindrical, terminated by a long raceme of 

 white flowers : the leaves appear after the flowers, 

 and are all radical, very large, oval-lanceolate and 

 fleshy. It grows on the sandy coasts of the Medi- 

 terranean. The bulb has a nauseous,- bitter and 

 acrid taste, but is destitute of any perceptible 

 odour. It is poisonous to several animals, and, if 

 much handled, produces ulcers on the skin. In 



large doses, it occasions vomiting, strangury, in- 

 flammation of the stomach and bowels, &c. ; but 

 in small doses, acts simply as an expectorant and 

 diuretic. It has been much esteemed from anti- 

 quity, and its various preparations are much used 

 in medicine. 



SQUINTING. See Optics. 

 SQUIRREL (sciurus} ; a genus of quadrupeds, 

 belonging to the rodentia, or gnawers, distinguished 

 from most animals of the tribe by the compressed 

 form of the lower incisors. The upper lip is cleft ; 

 the fur soft and silky ; the molar teeth are four on 

 each side of the lower jaw, and five in the upper, 

 the first of which is only a small tubercle, often 

 shed with age; the incisors are two in each jaw; 

 the toes are armed with hooked nails, by means of 

 which these animals are enabled to climb trees, 

 among the branches of which they pass their lives, 

 feeding on the fruit. Their light and graceful 

 motions, their beauty and extreme neatness, have 

 made them general favourites. When on the 

 ground, they move by successive leaps, with the 

 tail extended and undulating; but the forest is 

 their home, and they display wonderful activity in 

 leaping from branch to branch, sometimes stopping 

 to listen, sitting erect upon their hinder limbs, 

 with the tail elevated like a plume. In the same 

 posture they take their food, using their fore-feet 

 like hands. The hardest nuts serve them for nutri- 

 ment, and the facility with which they cut through 

 the shell is remarkable. They build nests of sticks 

 and leaves, in the tops of trees, or sometimes in 

 hollow trunks. Previous to the approach of winter, 

 they lay up large hoards of nuts and grain for future 

 use. When in captivity, they permit themselves 

 to be handled, without ever appearing to distin- 

 guish the person who takes care of them, or expe- 

 riencing any real attachment for him. In some 

 districts, they multiply so exceedingly as to become 

 a pest to the farmers, literally laying waste the 

 cornfields: the woods and fields seem then to be 

 alive with them, and sometimes they make partial 

 migrations, during which, vast numbers are drowned 

 in crossing rivers. 



The fox squirrel (S. vulpinus) inhabits, exclu- 

 sively, the pine forests of the Southern States of 

 America, and is the largest species. The body is 

 fourteen inches in length, and the tail sixteen. 

 The colour is gray and black, or mottled, &c. S. 

 capistratus is a variety having the nose white. 



The cat squirrel (S. cinereus) is distinguished by 

 its size and by the fur being less coarse in its tex- 

 ture. The length of the body is twelve inches, 

 and of the tail fourteen; the colour cinereous 

 above, and white beneath; the tail is less distichous 

 than in the others, and stripped with black. There 

 are four molar teeth only on each side of the upper 

 jaw. 



The gray squirrel (S. Carolinensis) is very 

 common in most parts of the United States, espe- 

 cially in oak, hickory, and chestnut forests. For- 

 merly, it was so abundant in many districts as to 

 become a scourge to the inhabitants. It is remark- 

 able for its beauty and activity, and, when kept in 

 confinement, is exceedingly playful and mischievous. 

 It is much smaller than the two preceding; the 

 colour is usually fine bluish-gray, mixed with a 

 slight tinge of orange, and the tail is edged with 

 white. These three species often occur entirely 

 black, and in this state have been described as a 

 distinct species. 



The great-tailed squirrel (S. macrourus) is the 



